Anthony Edwards Delivers Again in Wolves–Nuggets Rematch

Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dribbles up the court against the Chicago Bulls during the second half of a preseason game at the United Center in Chicago on Oct. 16, 2024. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Anthony Edwards picked up where he left off when the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets met in a playoff rematch on Friday.

Edwards delivered the Wolves’ go-ahead shot with 25.1 seconds left in a 119–16 win over the Nuggets (2–3). He helped the Wolves (3–2) rally from a double-digit deficit in the process during a physical fourth quarter that included a brawl, which resulted in a double technical foul between Denver’s Christian Braun and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert.

“They know when they see us they don’t like us, and I’m pretty sure they know we don’t like them,” Edwards told ESPN afterward. “You seen the little brawl in between timeouts. It’s always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus they got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it.”

Edwards set up guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker for a three-pointer that cut the Nuggets lead to 114–107 with 3:15 left, and the duo connected again with 2:22 left when Alexander-Walker’s three trimmed the lead to 116–112.

Edwards then got the Wolves within a point, 116–115, on a jumper with 1:12 left, and he set up his go-ahead shot with a defensive rebound beforehand. The Wolves superstar guard finished with 29 points, four rebounds and four assists in a game reminiscent of last spring. Too reminiscent for Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic, who took ownership of Friday’s loss.

“We had 10 or 8 points in the last, I don’t know how many minutes,” Jokic told Altitude TV afterward. “We didn’t execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes. They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job in getting guys involved. I had the turnover, so it was a really bad stretch for me.”

The Timberwolves took a 2–0 series lead over the Nuggets in May’s seven-game Western Conference semifinals before Denver pushed Minnesota to the brink. Edwards and the Wolves had to go on the road for Game 7 and rally from 20 points down in the second half to oust the then-defending champions.

Meeting for the first time since that hard-fought playoff series, the Nuggets and Wolves brought a playoff atmosphere to the Target Center in November. Both teams went back-and-forth early as the Wolves built a 33–29 lead through the first quarter as neither team led by more than four points.

Minnesota gained some on a 10–0 run to open the second quarter, capped by guard Donte DiVencenzo’s three-pointer for a 43–29. Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon and Braun led a 6–0 run to tie it at 51–51 after chipping away at the lead for most of the quarter.

After Minnesota hanged on to the lead, 64–61, at the halftime break, the Wolves fell behind early in the third quarter when Gordon buried a pair of three-pointers. Minnesota kept him in check the rest of the quarter and built a 91–85 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Gordon and fellow Nuggets starters, forward Michael Porter Jr. and Jokic, had their way much of the night. Gordon scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double double. Porter and Jokic scored 26 points apiece.

Denver also had a 14-point night from Braun, and guard Jamal Murray only had six points before sustaining a concussion. The Nuggets meanwhile couldn’t get significant production from the bench amid only 13 points, which included only five points from guard Russell Westbrook.

Minnesota had a spark from center Naz Reid off the bench with 16 points. Starting forward Julius Randle had 23 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, and Gobert had a double double of 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Minnesota bounced back from a 120–114 loss to the Dallas Mavericks from Tuesday in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals. That was despite a 37-point effort from Edwards, who has been off to a hot start amid 30 points per game for sixth in the league.

Denver came into the game on the heels of back-to-back overtime wins on the road against the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets this week. Jokic, the league’s leading scorer at 31.5 points per game, had 40 points against the Raptors and a double double against the Nets, but didn’t lead the team in scoring on Friday for the first time this season.

Denver gets a quick turnaround on Saturday with the Utah Jazz at home while the Wolves visit the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.